This Twinkie is no dessert, but a Guinness World Record holder

Jay Brewer, owner of Prehistoric Pets in Fountain Valley, holds Twinkie, a 22 foot-long Albino Reticulated Python. Brewer has turned his store into more of an interactive, educational party location for children, not just a pet store that sells lizards and snakes. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Some highlights in Twinkie's life

April 26, 2003: Born in the Midwest

July 10, 2009: First time on display at The Reptile Zoo in Fountain Valley

Aug. 25, 2009: Officially named Twinkie as part of a contest with hundreds of guest entries. Laura Brewer, facility coordinator at the Reptile Zoo, said the name was chosen because Twinkie's yellow and white skin resembles the popular snack food.

Aug. 28, 2009: Primetime TV debut on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien

Sept. 1, 2009: YouTube debut on the popular Prehistoric Pets: The Reptile Zoo Webisode Series

July 23, 2011: First Official Fan Page launched on Facebook, which surpassed 1,000 fans by the end of the year and now has almost 10,000 fans

September 2013: Listed in the 2014 Guinness World Records as the largest albino python in captivity

Guinness World Records in Southern California

Here are some other records with Southern California ties featured in the Guinness World Records 2014 edition:

Largest gathering of people wearing cowboy hats

• Place: Angel Stadium (Anaheim)

• Record: 39,013 people gathered at the stadium on June 2, 2012.

Fastest electric motorcycle

• Place: Aliso Viejo

• Record: The SWIGZ Electric Superbike prototype built by the Aliso Viejo company reached a speed of 196.912 mph on Aug. 30, 2011, at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.

Largest pinhole camera photograph

• Place: El Toro Marine base

• Record: The photograph, measuring about 32 feet by 111 feet, was taken in June 2006 using a camera that was created from an airplane hangar.

Most people in a Smart car

• Place: Glendale

• Record: 20 people from the Glendale Cheerleading Team achieved this record in September 2011 on the "Guinness World Records Gone Wild" set at the Staples Center.

Voices

"It's huge. My first impression was that it probably eats giant animals ... I definitely do not want that snake in my house; it's a little bit too big. It would probably freak me out."

She doesn't sing or dance. She doesn't have a signature move or a catch phrase. The 10-year-old Fountain Valley resident isn't even human, but she is a celebrity.

About 10,000 people “like” her on Facebook. In 2009, she made an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien.”

More recently, the 344-pound snake found sanctuary in the 2014 Guinness World Records book as the world's largest albino python in captivity.

Twinkie has amelanism, a recessive mutation that produces bright white and yellow pigment instead of black pigment. That's what makes her albino.

The Guinness World Records staff discovered Twinkie through a consultant, spokeswoman Sara Wilcox said in an email.

Laura Brewer, facility coordinator at the Fountain Valley pet store Prehistoric Pets, found out about the snake's world record in December.

The Guinness people emailed her “at like 4:30 in the morning. … So I'm half awake looking at the phone, saying, ‘OK, this has got to be spam,'” Brewer said. “And then I realize, ‘Oh my gosh, this is real. They're finally going to recognize her.'”

The Reptile Zoo is inside Prehistoric Pets and houses hundreds of creepy, crawly creatures. Kids go wild for Frank, a 7-foot Asian water monitor who appears on the Disney Channel show “Jessie.”

“You'd think we had Hannah Montana in a cage over there,” Brewer said.

She eats only one rabbit every four to six weeks, but has still grown significantly from about 50 pounds since the Reptile Zoo put her on display in 2009. The secret is more in her genes than her appetite, Laura Brewer said.

Once in a while, she does take a break.

A few months before the Guinness World Records book came out, the Prehistoric Pets staff moved Twinkie to a smaller, more enclosed space. They wanted to give her some time off, Laura Brewer said.

“Moving Twinkie is kind of a big ordeal,” said Jeff Kelley, who helps out at Prehistoric Pets. “We had 13 people one time, moving her, and she was still throwing us around.”

And while he is proud of Twinkie's accomplishments, Jay Brewer said he hopes to push the envelope with reticulated pythons that, like Twinkie, have a distinctive color pattern.

The Prehistoric Pets team already is raising a snake they hope one day will give Twinkie a run for her world record.

“My passion is breeding and owning reticulated pythons. … It's kind of fun to have something in (Guinness World Records) that gives something you love notoriety,” he said.

Jay Brewer, owner of Prehistoric Pets in Fountain Valley, holds Twinkie, a 22 foot-long Albino Reticulated Python. Brewer has turned his store into more of an interactive, educational party location for children, not just a pet store that sells lizards and snakes. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Brewer says his “passion is breeding and owning reticulated pythons,” which can grow quite large. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Jay Brewer, owner of Prehistoric Pets, holds Twinkie in his store. The 23-foot snake usually inhabits a 17-by-4-foot display case outside Brewer's office. SAM GANGWER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Frank, who appears in the Disney show “Jessie,” is another star at the Reptile Zoo inside Prehistoric Pets. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
It can take 13 people to move Twinkie, and the albino reticulated python can still make it difficult. COURTESY OF THE REPTILE ZOO

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